Image courtesy of Scuderia Ferrari
Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari closed out testing in Jerez by ending the final day of the first pre-season test on top once again.
Sunny and clear weather conditions greeted drivers and teams for the session in contrast to the previous as Raikkonen ensured it was four out of four for a Ferrari-powered car topping the timesheets. And did it in style by posting the best lap time of the whole test with a benchmark time of 1:20.841 during a four-lap run on the yellow-marked soft tyres.
Sauber ended their promising showing in Jerez on a high as Marcus Ericsson placed the C34 just one place lower than his third day pace-setting team-mate, albeit over a second adrift off Raikkonen. Although his day finished five minutes before the session’s end as his Sauber stopped out on track at Turns 9 and 10.
Mercedes continued their streak of being the team to go the furthest distance as Lewis Hamilton circulated the Jerez circuit … laps en route to ending the day behind Raikkonen in second.
But the reigning world champion was also without incident, having caused one of the earlier red flags during the morning session by spinning at the chicane and coming to a halt.
After the trio of Raikkonen, Ericsson and Hamilton was Max Verstappen in the Toro Rosso, with the Dutchman having a relatively trouble-free session despite just missing out on a century of laps.
Low-key sessions were also apparent for Felipe Massa, Romain Grosjean and Daniil Kvyat in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively. With the three recording 190 laps between them: Massa’s 73 compared to Grosjean’s 53 and Kvyat’s 64.
McLaren’s slow start to pre-season didn’t progress as much from yesterday and continued to occupy the final spot in the timesheets, with Jenson Button’s return to the cockpit yielding only three laps greater than the number of laps achieved by Fernando Alonso as his running was brought to a premature end by a fuel-pump problem in the afternoon session.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:20.841 | 106 |
| 2 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | 1:22.019 | 112 |
| 3 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 1:22.172 | 117 |
| 4 | Max Verstappen | Toro Rosso | 1:22.553 | 97 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | Williams | 1:23.116 | 73 |
| 6 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus | 1:23.802 | 53 |
| 7 | Daniil Kvyat | Red Bull | 1:23.975 | 64 |
| 8 | Jenson Button | McLaren | 1:27.660 | 35 |
